Good news: the iPhone 15 should indeed offer a faster charging than its predecessors. But unfortunately, you may have to pay for it again…
According to a bundle of leaks, Apple would take advantage of the arrival of USB-C, and the abandonment of the Lightning port, to offer faster charging on the iPhone 15. For the record, the iPhone 14 / 14 Plus do not exceed 20 W. On the other hand, the iPhone 14 Pro / 14 Pro Max can climb to 27 W. It takes about half an hour to recover 50% of autonomy.
In this area, iPhones have been largely outpaced by Android smartphones. Some references offer indeed a recharge going largely exceeding 100W. This is the case with Xiaomi’s Redmi Note 12 Explorer Edition, which offers a 210W charge, or a full charge in nine minutes.
A new report from Ming-Chi Kuo, a famous specialist analyst, corroborates the rumors. According to him, Apple should indeed offer faster charging on the iPhone 15. The informant does not specify how far the company might go. It’s hard to imagine Apple suddenly catching up by switching to 65W or 100W charging. We will rather count on a moderate improvement.
No MFI charger? No fast charging
On the other hand, Ming-Chi Kuo says that Apple will reserve faster charging for chargers stamped MFi (Made for iPhone). If you use a non-certified USB-C charger, you should be missing out on fast charging for iPhone 15s.
“I believe Apple will optimize the fast charging performance of MFi-certified chargers for the iPhone 15,” Kuo says cautiously in a post on Medium.
Users who have not yet invested in a compatible charger will have to pay again. Indeed, Apple will not provide the charger needed for fast charging to buyers. Since 2020, the Californian group no longer slips a power adapter into the box, citing environmental concerns.
Certified chargers are consistently more expensive than third-party chargers. For example, Apple’s 20W USB-C charger for iPads is priced at 25 euros on the French Apple Store. There is also a 35 W power adapter for 65 euros. For comparison, Amazon sells a plethora of 20W third-party chargers under 15 euros. Despite the higher price, we can expect many users to rush to the official chargers sold by Apple to take advantage of fast charging.
The future of Apple chargers and cables
The move to USB-C should also convince many users who only have USB-A adapters to invest in a new accessory, the financial analyst believes. Ming-Chi Kuo expects the brand to sell as many as 240 million 20W USB-C chargers in 2023, up 40 percent in a year. According to Kuo, “future iPhone 15 users might buy more than one USB-C charger” to meet their needs.
But that’s not all. iPhone 15 buyers will also need to getan MFi-certified USB-C cable to achieve maximum charging speed. You will not be able to use a non-certified cable, even if you have purchased an official charger, for fast charging. This is less of a problem as Apple continues to offer a free charging cable in the box with its iPhones. So we should find an official USB-C MFi cable in the box of iPhone 15, as it is in the one of iPhone 14.
Note that USB-C chargers and cables will be compatible with iPhone 15s, though. You will be able to recharge the battery without any problem, but the speed of the recharge will be limited. To take full advantage of the iPhone’s features, customers who have already paid more than 1,000 euros will be asked to buy a new charger… unless they already own one for their iPad.
As a reminder, Apple is expected to launch the iPhone 15 during September 2023. Barring any surprises, the range would consist of an iPhone 15, an iPhone 15 Plus, an iPhone 15 Pro and an iPhone 15 Pro Max, potentially renamed Ultra.
